Green Eyes
by ariel2me
Summary: For the prompt: Meeting for the first time, Steffon Baratheon/Cassana Estermont.


The girl was looking up when Steffon first saw her. Not at the sky, but at the windows on the upper floors of the castle, her eyes wandering from one window to the next.

_What is she doing? What is she looking for?_

"Steffon?" Aerys called out, impatiently. "What are you doing, dawdling about like a little girl? You're worse than Rhaella sometimes, I _swear_."

Aerys was often impatient these days. He was impatient to be appointed a royal squire, like Tywin was. He was impatient to be four-and-ten instead of two-and-ten, like Tywin was. At times, it seemed to Steffon that Aerys was impatient with being stuck with his ten-year-old cousin almost as much as he was impatient with still being a page when Tywin was already a squire hanging about with grown men, training with real swords, being allowed to drink the real stuff - strong Dornish wine instead of the weak, watered down version.

It was during those times that Steffon was most acutely aware about being the youngest, and the smallest, of the three. The runt of the litter, as Mother used to say about herself. That did not used to matter as much when Steffon first came to court; when he was seven, Aerys nine, and Tywin eleven. They were boys being boys back then – very different sorts of boys from one another, true – but still boys nonetheless, and inseparable ones at that.

That was no longer the case. As Grandfather said, there was a world of difference between being ten, and being four-and-ten, on the cusp of manhood. "When you are older, in your twenties, thirties and beyond," Grandfather added, "four years will not make that much of a difference. But for now –"

Seeing the stricken look on Steffon's face, Grandfather changed course. "You'll grow to be as tall as Tywin when you are his age, I'm sure of it."

It was not his height, or lack of it, that was bothering Steffon, exactly. It was the feel of the ground constantly shifting under his feet, of everything changing, always changing, never staying still. Boys growing up, and growing apart. Grandparents and parents growing old … and … and …

Oh it did not bear thinking! It did not bear saying, either, not even to Aerys and Tywin. Or to his grandfather, for that matter.

He spotted the girl again. He had previously assumed that she was with the group of ladies milling about in the courtyard, talking about the latest fashion in Myrish lace. Perhaps one of the ladies was the girl's mother, he thought. But she stayed put, when they left. Was the girl lost, Steffon wondered?

"Steffon!" Aerys called out again. "I want to find Tywin."

_Well, go then. Go find your Tywin_.

"Well, are you coming?"

"No," Steffon replied, his tone peevish.

"Well, _fine_!" Aerys said, sniffing.

Then, belatedly, remembering how kind Aerys and Tywin had been to him when he first came to King's Landing, how they had taken him under their wings, Steffon added, "I'll come later. I want to see if that girl needs help finding her mother and father."

But Aerys was already walking away in the direction of the stables, deaf to Steffon's peace offering. Steffon sighed.

"Did your friend abandon you?"

He almost jumped, from the shock. That girl. That girl, speaking to him. She did not look lost. She did not look scared, or confused, or nervous, in fact. She was staring at him with frank curiosity.

Her eyes were green, like the eyes of a cat. "My cat has green eyes," he blurted out. _Stupid._ Why had he said that?

If she thought it was a stupid thing to say, the girl did not show it, merely asking, "What's his name? Your cat?"

"It's a she, actually. Well, I thought _she_ was a _he_, when I named him, I mean, _her_. But she had three kittens recently, so she is a _she_ after all, not a _he_."

"What's _her_ name, then?"

"Steff." He felt ridiculous, suddenly. Had the girl heard Aerys calling out his name? Most people thought it was silly and laugh-out-loud funny, that he had named his cat a shortened version of his own name.

"I have a puppy named Cass," the girl volunteered.

"That's a very nice name," Steffon said, with a smile, but he wondered what that had to do with anything. Unless … unless she was telling him that she liked dogs, but not cats?

"There are cat people, and then there are dog people,_"_ Grandmother was fond of saying, "and never the twain shall meet, or marry."

"My name is Cassana," the girl continued.

_Oh. _Steffon grinned_. _They had something in common already.

Then, remembering his original purpose, he asked her, "Are you lost, Cassana? Do you need help finding your way?"

"I'm not lost!" She sounded outraged at the suggestion. Worse still, she sounded as if she was already regretting being friendly with him.

Seeing Steffon's face fell, and perhaps taking pity on this boy already abandoned by one friend, she offered, "I _am_ looking for something, though."

"What are you looking for?"

"The Maidenvault."

"The … what? Oh, you mean the Court of Beauty, where King Baelor's three sisters once lived."

"Is _that_ what they call it here? The Court of Beauty?"

"Some people call it that, and some call it the Maidenvault, as you did. But it was not _really_ a vault, it's just a special place in the Red Keep where the Princesses Daena, Rhaena and Elaena were supposed to stay, to preserve their innocence and to protect them from evil men and their lustful ways, according to King Baelor."

Steffon remembered asking about these evil men and their lustful ways, when the maester of the Red Keep had been teaching the royal pages about Baelor the Blessed. The maester's reply had been distinctly less than satisfactory, with a lot of hemming and hawwing, ending with Steffon's least favorite kind of answer - _you are far too young to understand_ _that sort of wickedness._

Steffon was nervous that Cassana would ask him about the evil men and their lustful ways. How could he answer that? To his relief, Cassana was not interested in _those_ evil men, just one man in particular.

"Well, I think it's reallycruel! To lock up his sisters like that. Even if it was not a _real_ vault, it was still a prison."

"Oh, I agree," Steffon said. Aerys sometimes talked about locking Rhaella in a vault, when he was furious with his sister about one thing or another. It was only a jape, _of course_ it was, Steffon told himself, but still, even the thought made him shudder. If _he_ had a sister -

"Do you know where it is?" Cassana asked.

"The Maidenvault? No, not really."

"Don't you live here?"

"Well, I do. Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"This isn't really my home."

"You're only visiting, like I am?"

If three years could be called visiting. "I … work here. Sort of. I'm a page." He was not wearing his royal page raiment at the moment, though.

That was when Tywin and Aerys found them. "My, my, Steffon has a new friend he has been keeping secret from us," Aerys said. "So who's the girl?"

Steffon did not want to say, suddenly. She was _his_ friend, not theirs. But wait … were they really friends? They had conversed for a bit, it was true, and she seemed not to mind his company …

"This is Cassana," Steffon finally said, reluctantly. It would seem strange not to say anything, as if he was embarrassed to be seen talking to her.

Tywin nodded. "Lord Estermont's daughter," he said, to Steffon's surprise. Steffon had seen Lord Estermont and his lady wife at various feasts in Storm's End, of course, and one of Lord Estermont's sons Lomas was currently squiring for Steffon's father. But he had never seen the Estermont daughter before.

_Green eyes_,_ for the green turtle_. _How fitting_, he thought, then blushed at his own foolishness. _Silly little boy! No wonder Aerys would rather spend time with Tywin, and Tywin with his fellow royal squires._

If Cassana suspected what was on his mind, she would think him very silly too, Steffon feared.

But Cassana was not looking at Steffon. She was scrutinizing Tywin, intently. "Have we met, ser? How do you know who I am?"

Tywin laughed. "I am not a _ser_. Yet."

"He will be, soon," Aerys piped up. "There is no stronger or braver squire in King's Landing than Tywin Lannister. At least there won't be, until I am made a royal squire myself," he added, puffing up his chest.

Tywin continued, addressing Cassana. "I saw your father and mother presenting you to Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Shaera this morning." Then, turning to Steffon and Aerys, he said, "Lord Estermont was offering his daughter to be a companion to Princess Rhaella."

Did that mean that Cassana would be living here? Would Steffon be able to see her every day? Or, at least, as often as he would be seeing his cousin Rhaella.

"What are you doing here on your own?" Tywin was asking Cassana. "Are you lost?"

_She's not alone!_ Steffon protested, silently. _She's with me._

"No," Cassana said. "I'm waiting for my mother."

"We can look for the Maidenvault together," Steffon said, a trifle shyly, after Tywin and Aerys had left them. He added, "If you are going to be Princess Rhaella's companion and staying in the Red Keep, that is."

Cassana shook her head. "I'm not staying. I'm going home. Princess Shaera told my mother that all the positions are filled at the moment. Perhaps next year, she said. One of Princess Rhaella's older companions is betrothed, and they will need someone to replace her after the wedding."

"Oh." Steffon's face fell.

Cassana did not look disappointed. But Lord Estermont might be. _Grubby fellow, harboring ambitions above his station_, Steffon had heard some of the stormlords talking about Lord Estermont. He had schemed, cajoled and wheedled his way until he got his son Lomas a position as Ormund Baratheon's squire, according to them.

(But Father had said that some of the grander lords probably did not like it because they looked down on the Estermonts; an impoverished House with poor holdings. "To be ambitious is only unseemly and oh-so-grubby when it comes from those they think are more lowly than they are. Their own ambition is never unseemly, never _that_, gods know," Father said, sounding bitter. "In any case, Lomas is a perfectly satisfactory squire.")

It was Lady Estermont who found them, not Lord Estermont. "Thereyou are, Cassana. I _told_ you not to leave my side."

"I was _bored_," Cassana replied. "You were chattering to those ladies for ever so long, Mother."

Lady Estermont almost shrieked, when she finally noticed Steffon. "My lord," she addressed Steffon, stiffly, after she had calmed down. "Please forgive my daughter's impertinence." Then, turning to her daughter, she scolded, "Cassana, have you been troubling Lord Baratheon's son?"

Cassana actually _did _shriek, hearing that. "You're _that_ Steffon. The one from Lomas' letters," she said, excitedly.

Lady Estermont looked like she was about to have a heart attack, right there and then. "Cassana! _Really_. Where are your manners, child?"

Meanwhile, Steffon's imagination was running wild. His father's squire wrote about Steffon in his letters to his sister? Good things? Bad things? _Steffon is a spoiled brat. Steffon is wicked, wicked little boy._ _Steffon is_ -

_Please gods, let it be good things_, he prayed. Good things, but not boring or tedious.

As Cassana and her mother were leaving, Steffon called out to say, "I'll keep looking for the Maidenvault. Shall I let you know if I find it?"

"You can write to me at Greenstone," Cassana replied. "You will always find me at home."

"_My lord_," her mother prompted.

"You will always find me at home, _my lord_," Cassana said, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Steffon was hoping that she would not always to be found at home. Whoever that companion of Rhaella who was currently betrothed was, Steffon hoped that the wedding would be very soon, so Cassana could take her place and come live at the Red Keep. Rhaella would like Cassana as much as he did, Steffon was certain of that.

Well … perhaps not as much, because he liked her _very_ much indeed.


End file.
